1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to decorative items, and more particularly, to an ornamental bunting formed from a length of fabric, an improved method of making an ornamental bunting, and an improved clamp for securing material of the fabric to form the bunting.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ornamental buntings of the type typically seen at events associated with festivities, such as the Fourth of July or the World Series, are formed by folding generally rectangular fabric, usually decorated brightly, into pleats and securing the pleats at one end together to allow the other end to be spread out in a fan shape. However, traditional methods of manufacturing such buntings require complex and time consuming folding and stitching operations, making manufacturing quite expensive. In particular, securing the pleats at the one end has been performed by a stitching process.
One prior art method aimed at reducing the cost of manufacture of such buntings is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,020,037 to Etzion. In that patent, as shown in FIG. 1, each of the pleats of a folded length of fabric is formed so as to have an aperture therethrough, and a ring-shaped member is provided that passes through all of the apertures to maintain the end of the length of fabric in a gathered condition.
However, this method does not evenly gather the ends of the fabric to form an attractive bunting, at least because the ends of the pleats are not securely, tightly and evenly gathered across the width of each pleat. As a result, a bunting made by this method has a loose and unfinished appearance. Further, the nature of fastening by means of a ring requires the placement of a plurality of holes at one end of the fabric, in particular one hole for each pleat, together with an associated grommet for each hole, because each hole bears a portion of the weight of the bunting when the bunting is hung.